Plant

  • Flowers! Give a cheerful façade to your home with decorative porch pots, garlands, and flowers. Cyclamen and primrose are perfect for shady porches and are quite festive with combinations of reds, whites, and even pinks. They can take a lot of cool winter sun too! Expect them to bloom all winter long. Pansies and violas work well in the sun or shade this time of year and will likely bloom until June or longer. Cheerful orange, yellow, and cream-colored calendula will bloom all winter in a full sun location as will swaying Icelandic poppies. Plant 4-inch containers for bold color right away or grab 6-packs for more bang-for-your-buck. Alyssum will put on quite the bloom show in the winter. Consider tucking some in with your winter vegetables for soft clouds of white or purple amongst your brassicas.

  • Holly berry is shining bright right now. Remember, you’ll need a male and a female plant to get berries! We often sell holly with both types of plant in the same container to make things easier for you.

  • Bare root roses will be arriving at the end of the month.

  • Bare root fruit trees will be arriving early January. Keep an eye on your email for the new year’s fruit tree list and make your plans! We have the best selection and best prices on fruit trees this time of year. See our current fruit tree offering.

Protect

  • Don't let citrus or any other frost tender plant go dry in frosty weather. Lay frost cloth over them for protection during cold spells as winter sets in.  Protecting the ‘top’ of the plant where frost settles is the most important!

  • Remove mistletoe if you find it in your trees. It weakens your tree and serves best as decoration around the house. Just be careful, as it is mildly poisonous to cats and dogs.

  • Living Christmas trees get our vote this month. Use them as your tree this holiday and enjoy them in your yard in the new year. If you are using a living Christmas tree, remember that it should not be indoors any longer than 7 - 10 days. Consider spraying it with Wilt Stop to help it conserve moisture and keep it from drying out.

  • While we love staying warm and toasty, our houseplants do not enjoy the dry heat from central heating or fireplaces. Move them away from direct heat and create humidity by misting them regularly or setting them over a saucer of rocks and water.

  • Poinsettias are beautiful, but they have been raised in warm greenhouses, so keeping them safe indoors is your best bet. They like water so plan on checking them daily.

Maintenance

  • November through January are the best months to transplant trees, shrubs, and perennials. Any plant in your garden that needs to get moved due to size, sun exposure (too much or not enough), or any other reason should be done now while it is in its most dormant stage. Send us an email with pictures and a description if you need help with the specifics.

  • Pruning season for roses, deciduous fruit trees, grapes, berries, and other dormant plants begins now. Pruning helps control the size and shape of your plant, creates a strong framework of branches, and often increases the quality of your fruit.

  • Continue feeding outdoor orchids like Cymbidiums. Whether you are giving them as gifts or you've received a number from friends, winter is a popular time for orchids. 

  • Check outdoor potted plants and bulbs for water. Maybe they need more and or maybe they are soggy! Also check any plants that are planted under the eaves of buildings.

  • To keep birds around, hang bird feeders and make sure they are filled for the winter. A water source like a bird bath is great too.

  • Turn off or adjust your drip system. Plants need little water when the weather is cold and even less if they have lost their leaves for the winter. With any luck we will have rain this month!

Fruit Trees

  • Almond plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant oil / remove old nuts / control shothole disease

  • Apple plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant sprays / remove mummified fruit

  • Apricot plant bare-root trees / dormant sprays / remove fruit mummies

  • Cherry plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant sprays

  • Fig plant sleeves / remove fallen or overripe fruit / pruning and dormant sprays

  • Peach/Nectarine plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant sprays / remove fruit mummies / control shothole and peach leaf curl

  • Pear plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant sprays / remove mummified fruit

  • Pecan plant bare-root trees / pruning / remove old nuts

  • Persimmon plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant oil sprays / harvest / remove decayed and fallen fruit

  • Pistachio remove mummies and fallen fruit / pruning and dormant oil spray

  • Plum/Pluot/Prune plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant oil sprays / remove fruit mummies

  • Quince plant bare-root trees / pruning and dormant sprays / remove mummified fruit

  • Pomegranate  plant sleeves / pruning / remove split and decayed fruit

  • Walnut plant bare-root trees / pruning / remove and destroy old and fallen nuts

    Dormant oil (    Master Nursery Pest Fighter) and copper spray (Monterey Liqui-Cop) are only used while trees are leafless.